Introduction:
The assassination of the 35th President of the United
States, President John F. Kennedy, a heartbreaking tragedy as it were, is an
event that will remain burned into the minds of the public forever. On November
22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was riding in an open-topped limo through
Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas (Goldman 1). At approximately 12:30 PM, Kennedy
was shot twice, once in the head and once in the neck, with him dying shortly
after
(Death of the President 1). The mourning from the loss of a president like he, is almost absent in comparison to the question of why Kennedy was killed and the theories that followed:
(Death of the President 1). The mourning from the loss of a president like he, is almost absent in comparison to the question of why Kennedy was killed and the theories that followed:
1.
Was there a second gunman?
2.
Was Kennedy killed by CIA agents acting either out of anger over
the Bay of Pigs or at the behest of Vice President Lyndon Johnson? (Conspiracy
Theories 1)
3.
Was Kennedy killed by KGB operatives? (Conspiracy Theories 1)
Let’s examine John F. Kennedy, and the conspiracy theories of his
assassination, and the likelihood that Kennedy was assassinated by the primary
suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald.
Character Analysis:
Elected as the 35th President of the
United States, John F. Kennedy became the youngest
person to ever be elected into office. Kennedy was one of the
most loved presidents, being that
he was a military hero. “He also led a renewed drive for public
service and eventually provided
federal support for the growing civil rights movement. His
assassination on November 22, 1963,
in Dallas, Texas, sent shockwaves around the world and turned
the all-too-human Kennedy into a
larger-than-life heroic figure” (History.com staff).
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29,
1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts to Rose
Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Joseph Kennedy Sr. “Both the
Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys were
wealthy and prominent Irish Catholic Boston families”
(Biography.com Editors). Kennedy,
nicknamed “Jack”, grew up in a wealthy family, leading a
privileged life. He attended private
schools and his parents made sure his siblings and him got the
best education. Later in life, Jack
enlisted in the Navy and after leading several successful
missions, was awarded the Navy and
Marine Corps Medal for heroism. After serving his country, Jack
began his career in politics,
serving in congress, in senate, and as a member of the house of
representatives, before running
for presidential election. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was
riding in an open top limo in
Dealey-Plaza in Dallas, Texas when he was shot twice and killed.
Let’s take a closer look at Kennedy’s character.
Kennedy was known as a charismatic and charming person, and he
could influence a crowd’s
opinion with a few words and a quick flash of his smile. “He was
able to transform the
preferences, values, and needs of his followers” (Admin).
Kennedy would connect with his
supporters using charisma, expressing emotions through facial
expressions and gestures, which is
what enabled him to gain such popularity with his supporters.
Although Kennedy’s charisma was
a great strength and asset to him, it was also a great danger
and weakness to him. “Charisma led
John Kennedy to become a compulsive womanizer or sexual addict”
(Admin). Some believe that
Kennedy’s treatment of women like this was his way of coping
with his anger about his mother
abandoning his family, and it became his way of feeling in
charge of his life. Perhaps Kennedy’s
mistreatment of women could be the motive for his assassination,
or perhaps it was just for
political reasons. Overall, John F. Kennedy was a strong minded,
intelligent, charismatic,
genuine man with a few dark secrets
John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th
President of the United States, being the
youngest person to ever being elected into office. A lot of
people believed that Kennedy was too
young and unqualified to run a country and that he was only
elected because he was attractive.
Others believe that CIA agents killed him because they were
angry about the mass slaughter at
the Bay of Pigs, or by request of Vice President Lyndon B.
Johnson, who wanted to takeover
President Kennedy’s position. Personally I support the theory,
that Lyndon Johnson ordered the
assassination of President Kennedy because he is the only person
who had motive to carry this
out. Perhaps Johnson knew the truth about Kennedy’s character.
Although he seemed like this
perfect, charming gentleman, he really was an introvert that put
on an act, who did not know how
to treat women well. I believe that Lyndon B. Johnson ordered
the assassination of President
Kennedy believing that he was carrying out justice for women,
and using Kennedy as an
example of what should happen to people who put on a false personality
and mistreat women and
people in general. John F. Kennedy, to place him into a
stereotype, was what people like to call
“two-faced”, or perhaps “specious”. He used his good image as a
mirage to hide his true
personality, which in political terms would be completely
undesirable.
Conspiracy Theories:
After the assassination of United States President John F.
Kennedy, many conspiracy
theories arose. The first and major conspiracy theory that was
brought to light was that there
could have been a second gunman in the assassination. Many
scholars and people alike don’t
believe that Lee Harvey Oswald could have made the fatal shot
that ended Kennedy’s life, based
on the angle of his position; “In 1979, the House Select
Committee on Assassinations released its
final report. It contained a shocking finding: ‘Scientific
acoustical evidence establishes a high
probability that two gunmen fired at President John F. Kennedy’”
(ABC 1). Although this
“acoustical evidence” does seem very convincing, many people
still believe that Oswald acted
alone. The “acoustical evidence” does prove evidence of there
being a total of 4 shots fired at the
time of Kennedy’s assassination, but it does not prove that
there were two different shooters. In a
survey that I put out, I asked the question, “Do you think
anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald
was involved in President John F. Kennedy’s assassination?” A
majority of the people I surveyed
answered no, that they didn’t think anyone else could have been
involved. Because there is what
seems like solid evidence for the case of JFK’s assassination, I
think people are choosing to
believe this theory the most because it is the easiest, and it
allows for people to find closure from
the heartache that many experienced fifty years ago when their
beloved President was killed.
The second conspiracy theory suggests that
Kennedy was killed by CIA agents acting
either out of anger over the Bay of Pigs or at the behest of
Vice President Lyndon Johnson. After
the mass slaughtering at the Bay of Pigs, an operation run by
the CIA to overthrow Fidel Castro,
President Kennedy refused to send any air support (Weller 1).
Many believe that this triggered an
outrage in the CIA, causing many members to turn against
President Kennedy. The second part
of this theory suggests that the CIA killed President Kennedy at
the behest of Vice President
Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson was a well- respected member of the
political community, but
many believe that Johnson was jealous of the power that Kennedy
held and that he wanted it for
himself, therefore ordering the assassination of President
Kennedy. However, I believe that
President Johnson in fact did order the assassination of
President Kennedy, but not for the power.
President Kennedy was very charismatic, but this charisma led
him to become a compulsive
womanizer and sexual addict. Most people though did not see past
Kennedy’s charm, so not
many people noticed this about Kennedy, but I believe Lyndon B.
Johnson saw the true John F.
Kennedy and thought him unfit to run the country, triggering
Johnson to order the assassination
of JFK.
The third and
final theory suggests that Kennedy was killed by KGB operatives (Soviet
officers). “Toward the end of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis,
Krushchev was ultimately forced to
remove the intercontinental ballistic missiles he'd deployed in
Cuba due to US militaristic threats
against the Soviet Union.” (Weller 1) So many believe that
Krushchev ordered the assassination
of Kennedy out of anger over the situation. This theory however,
does not have evidence to
support it making it highly unlikely that JFK’s assassination
happened this way.
Although all of these theories, as well as the
others that were not mentioned, can be
convincing, I believe that the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy was ordered by Vice
President Lyndon B. Johnson. I still believe that Lee Harvey
Oswald did fire the shot that killed
Kennedy, but that he did not act alone. Johnson used Oswald as a
scapegoat so that a finger
would not be pointed his way, allowing Johnson to take over the
presidential office.
Conclusion:
On November 22, 1963, beloved 35th President of the United
States, President John F. Kennedy
was riding in an open-topped limo through Dealey Plaza in
Dallas, Texas when he was shot and
killed. After the assassination of President Kennedy, many
different conspiracy theories arose:
1. Was there a second gunman?
2. Was Kennedy killed by CIA agents acting either out of anger
over the Bay of Pigs or at
the behest of Vice President Lyndon Johnson?
3. Was Kennedy killed by KGB operatives?
Even today, after the case of JFK’s assassination has already
been closed, there are still many
theories as to who ordered the killing of Kennedy, but the most
likely answer to this puzzling
question is that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the
assassination of President
Kennedy and assumed his position without hesitation.
Works Cited:
Goldman, Russell. “The Top 5 John F. Kennedy Assassination
Conspiracy Theories.” ABC News, ABC News Network,
abcnews.go.com/US/top-john-kennedy-assassination-conspiracy-theories/story?id=20614951.
“November 22, 1963: Death of the President.” John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/November-22-1963-Death-of-the-President.aspx.
“Conspiracy Theories.” Time, Time Inc., 20 Nov. 2008,
content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1861003,00.html.
“History & Culture.” Biography.com, A&E Networks
Television, 11 July 2017,
www.biography.com/news/section/history-and-culture.
“John F. Kennedy
History.” Informationvine.com - What's Your Question?,
www.informationvine.com/slp?_q=jfk%2Bhistory_sid.
Weller, Chris. “No One Knows for Sure Who Was behind JFK's Assassination
- Here Are the
Top Theories.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 25 Oct. 2017,
www.businessinsider.com/top-theories-about-the-jfk-assassination-2017-10/#the-cia-
theory-1.
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